Jarret P. Hitchings

Areas of Practice

• Commercial and Corporate Litigation

• Bankruptcy Law and Distressed Asset Litigation

Representative Matters

Recent Federal and State Court Litigation

• Representing the assignee in an assignment-for-the-benefit-of-creditors (ABC) transaction and related litigation before the Delaware Chancery Court.

• Representing a commercial creditor of an insolvent reinsurance carrier with respect to the carrier’s state-ordered receivership pending before the Delaware Chancery Court.

• Defending financial institution with respect to federal lending and collection practices actions in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.

• Defended financial institution with respect to depositor litigation before the Delaware Superior Court.

• Represented Spanish pharmaceutical company in fiduciary duty and books-and-records litigation against American portfolio company in the Delaware Chancery Court.

• Represented secured lender and special loan servicer in connection with state law commercial loan default and foreclosure litigation before the Delaware Superior Court.

Bankruptcy and Distressed Asset Litigation

• Representing a secured lender in connection with the chapter 11 litigation, reorganization and refinancing of significant theme-park area hotel property.

• Represented the foreign representatives and joint administrators of Guernsey holding company in connection with chapter 15 recognition proceedings in the United States.

• Represented the foreign representatives and joint official liquidators for Cayman Island hedge fund in connection with the case administration and wind-down of chapter 15 cases for feeder-fund affiliates.

• Litigated the multi-million dollar claims of an energy logistics company against exploration and production company during its chapter 11 reorganization.

• Represented as Delaware counsel the official committee of unsecured creditors of an international metals recycling company in connection with the company’s successful chapter 11 restructuring.

Admissions

• Delaware
• Pennsylvania
• U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Education

• Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude
  - Order of the Coif
• The Pennsylvania State University, B.A.

Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Partner, 2021-present
  - Associate, 2013-2020
• Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLC
  - Associate, 2010-2013

Professional Activities

• International Insolvency Institute
  - Member, Class X, NextGen Leadership Program
• Delaware State Bar Association, Litigation and Bankruptcy Sections
• INSOL International, Member
• American Bankruptcy Institute
  - Newsletter Editor for the Emerging Industries and Technology Committee
  - Advisory Board Member for the Mid-Atlantic Bankruptcy Workshop

Honors and Awards

• Named to American Bankruptcy Institute’s 40 Under 40, 2021
• Listed in Delaware Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2021

Selected Publications

• Co-author, "Proceed with Caution: Chapter 15 at the Intersection of the CSA and Bankruptcy Code," Turnaround Management Association Journal of Corporate Renewal, November 2021
• Quoted, "Proposed Federal Bankruptcy Venue Restriction Could Be a Blow for Delaware," Delaware Business Court Insider, June 30, 2021
• Author, "Is Chapter 15 Available to a Cannabis MSO? In the Face of Uncertainty, Tread Lightly," INSOL World, 2nd Quarter 2021
• Author, "Chancery Considers Measure of Damages in Case Involving Cancer Therapeutics Company," Delaware Business Court Insider, June 16, 2021
• Quoted, "Suit Over Brooks Brothers Sale Shows Chap. 11's Shadow," Women's Wear Daily, May 21, 2021
• Co-author, "Rejection of FERC-Regulated Agreements: Is In re Ultra Petroleum the Last Word?" American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, February 2021
• Author, "Chancery's Narrow Construction of Forum Selection Clause Preserves Venue of Fiduciary Duty Litigation in Del.," Delaware Business Court Insider, June 24, 2020
• Co-author, "Sympathy for the Debtor? Not When It Comes to Student Loans," Law.com, November 14, 2019

• Author, "Don't Be a Maverick: Chancery Reinforces Limits on Attorney-Client Privilege," Delaware Business Court Insider, August 21, 2019

• Co-author, "Limitations on the Utility of Testimony Elicited During a Section 341 Meeting," The Legal Intelligencer, May 23, 2019

• Co-author, "Approval of Fee Defense Provisions in Retention Agreements Post-'ASARCO'," The Legal Intelligencer, February 15, 2018

• Co-author, "Court: Debt to Paramour Obtained by Fraud Partially Nondischargeable," The Legal Intelligencer, October 6, 2017
• Co-author, "One Contract, Indivisible, With Defenses and 'Kiwi' for All," The Legal Intelligencer, July 3, 2017
• Co-author, "Pssst, Can You Keep a Secret? Unperfected 'Secret' Liens as a Preference Defense," American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, June 2017
• Author, "Colleges Should Note A New Trend Among Bankruptcy Trustees," Law360, October 12, 2016
• Co-author, "A Tale of Two States: Puerto Rico and Chapter 9," The Legal Intelligencer, June 30, 2016

Selected Speaking Engagements

• Panel Speaker, "Beyond the Surface of Venue: Real World Bankruptcy Practice in 2018," National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, 2018 Annual Meeting

• Presenter, "Key Issues in Distressed Debt, Workouts, and Restructurings: Practical Guide," The Knowledge Group, Webcast, October 10, 2019

Media Hits

• Quoted, "Proposed Federal Bankruptcy Venue Restriction Could Be a Blow for Delaware," Law360, June 30, 2021
• Quoted, "Suit over Brooks Brothers Sale Shows Chap. 11’s Shadow," WWD, May 20, 2021
• Quoted, "Student Loan Debtors Seek High Court Standard in Debt Discharge," Bloomberg Law, April 30, 2021